


An Unfortunate Truth

by MelodyoftheVoid



Series: The More Things Change [5]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: As for relationships, F/M, Gun Violence, It's a secret ;) - Freeform, Past Character Death, Sibling Bonding, This won't be a good time for anyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22154002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/pseuds/MelodyoftheVoid
Summary: The truth comes outAka: Dib and Gaz figure it out (eventually)
Relationships: Dib & Gaz (Invader Zim), Dib & Professor Membrane
Series: The More Things Change [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571875
Comments: 11
Kudos: 35





	1. I'll Wreck This If I Have To

**Author's Note:**

> Buckle up folks, this is where the fun starts.

This time, it was Dib who noticed odd behavior from a family member. His dad, one of the most stoic people he knew, was acting…odd. It started when his dad first walked in on the completed robot. He’d stood in the doorway, staring at the robot in utter disbelief for a solid minute. He’d claimed that he thought there was a stranger in the house and was amazed by how well the robot move, but he’d seen his dad not blink an eye at a fish clone of himself. Something was up.

Clembrane vanished months ago and no one was willing to discuss it, so they didn’t.

His dad had always been something of an enigma to him, not helped by the fact he only spent one night out of the year with them for a majority of his life. But something about Spectra unnerved his dad, and while her outburst hadn’t helped, Dib would sometimes catch his dad staring at her almost wistfully. Dib had put together a handful of theories, each more outlandish than the last, he finally stopped when he came to the conclusion that she was an elaborate hologram and that none of the last month was real. Enough was enough, it was time for the truth.

Now unlike Gaz, Dib had no sense of boundaries for better or worse, so one day while Spectra was at the movies (she’d taken to going at least once a week) he decided that he’d make his move. 

Dib crept down into the home lab, carefully practicing his questions in his head. The last thing he wanted to do was freeze up and put his foot squarely in his mouth. He called down, “Hey dad, do you have a minute?” 

After a moment he heard the sound of machinery slow and then stop. A cheery, “Of course son!” echoed up to him. Dib continued down the stairs until he saw his dad working on Foodio, who’d recently busted a circuit nearly causing the house to explode from the amount of food it’d created. 

Dib hesitated, he knew that he was unlikely to get a straight answer from his dad, but it was worth a shot. “Dad, why did you seem so surprised when you saw Spectra for the first time? And why do you stare at her?”

Professor Membrane sighed, he’d never been a particularly good actor, it was only a matter of time until this question came up. Given his history of dodging questions he owed Dib the truth. “You really are quite the investigator Dib, I guess… she reminded me of someone.” He gave a small laugh before going on, “Son, it’s time I told you about your mother.”

That was not the response Dib had expected. He stared at Membrane; whose demeanor had shifted from genial to somber. The professor removed his goggles and looked him in the eyes.

“My mom?”

“Yes, I know I’ve avoided talking about her for a long time. But I think I am ready to talk about her now.”

The younger Membrane sat forward, ready to hear everything. 

“Her name was Caroline, and she was… Brilliant. Everyone tells you that you take after me, Dib, you remind me so much of her it hurts. She loved the paranormal and the unknown.”

“She hunted the paranormal?”

“Oh no, she made them. She worked in the special effects departments! The number of times she’d scare me with one of her masks...” He trailed off, remembering better times.

“She loved the movies she worked on, and she wanted nothing more than to see you two grow up. I just wish she could see you now.”

This was the key question, “How did she die?” Dib held his breath.

“It was a drive-by shooting. It was so sudden, one day she was there and the next? She was gone. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about her.” He removed the thick glove on his left hand to reveal a ring, simple and well loved. 

All Dib could muster was a quiet, “Oh.”

“It’s alright son, this talk was long overdue. I just couldn’t find it in myself to talk to you about it.”

The two embraced, before the older Membrane went back to work, a little bit lighter.

Leaving the home lab, a few key details kept sticking out to Dib. Why did all of this sound so familiar. As he stepped into his room, he glanced at the corkboard he’d devoted to the haunted house that started it all. Wait, those articles, they mentioned a shooting. He looked back at his notes, an unknown person shot in a drive-by, his dad preferred to keep his personal life private, so he could have kept the identity away from the media. 

He thought back to her mannerisms, those lined up with what his dad had described as well. And her appearance, she had the same purple hair as Gaz, with a curved section that resembled his hair spike, the coincidences were too numerous to ignore. Dib’s mind swam, could all of this be true? This could change everything!

Dib shot up to Gaz’s room to tell her the news. After excitedly retelling her everything, the growing worry on her face threw him off. 

“Gaz, what’s wrong?”

“Dib, how old are you?”

“13 where are you going with this?” Dib cocked his head slightly.

“Dib, she said she’s been there for at least 15 years. And Dad didn’t say where mom died either.”

The Membrane siblings sat in silence for several minutes as the implications of that set in. Dib’s anxiety and paranoia kicked into full gear with each passing second. Surely there was no way, Spectra’d always been helpful, if a bit pushy. But all of the stories about those she’d made deals with, they each ended terribly. Did she mislead them into thinking she was on their side before turning on them? Was he next? What had he let into their house, into his body? He turned to Gaz; stone serious.

“We need to get to work.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

Spectra didn’t know what had changed, but she left for one day and the entire family started avoiding her like the plague. She tried to ask what was wrong but kept hearing hasty excuses to do anything else. Regardless of that, Membrane asked her to get Dib down to the lab, the two of them had worked on a handful of projects after her outburst, and she obliged. 

As she ascended the stairs a feeling of dread pooled at her core. Why was she so nervous, it wasn’t like she hadn’t climbed these stairs before. She knocked hesitantly on Dib’s door.

“Dib, your dad needs your help in the lab.”

Dead silence. She knocked again.

“Dib? Are you there?”

Not even the sound of typing. 

This was fine, maybe he was at Zim’s.

She walked over to Gaz’s room, knocking again.

“Gaz, have you seen Dib?”

Nothing from her room either.

Now she was beginning to panic, looking around she sat her robot body down and floated through each of their doors. Neither sibling was in their room. 

She ran back down the stairs, back into the lab, screeching to a halt in front of a bewildered Membrane. 

“The kids aren’t in their rooms.”

He stood up, “What? Are you sure?”

Spectra nodded frantically, “I checked, I couldn’t hear anything from either of them, I don’t know where they are.” 

Membrane doubted her, only because he refused to believe that this was possible, but he replied, “We should double check, just to be sure.”

Spectra hesitated behind the professor as he opened the door to Dib’s room. Stray papers and empty energy drink cans lay strewn across the floor. Spectra made her way across the mess to his desk, stopping in her tracks before taking off. Ignoring Professor Membrane’s confused yell, she ran out of the house. She knew where they were, she just prayed it wasn’t too late.


	2. Nevermore to Leave Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is unraveled

There were a handful of downsides to having a robot body, but its endurance was not one of them. As Spectra raced down the streets toward that accursed house, she regretted that she couldn’t really explain the situation to Membrane. Time was of the essence and she didn’t exactly have the ability to convince him that ghosts were real in under a minute. 

She finally came to a halt in front of that cursed building that caused her so much pain. She called out, “Dib? Gaz? Are you in there?” Nothing. Knowing she had no other option, she reluctantly stepped into the house. 

Without warning, she felt a burning sensation as the robot housing fell forward as her spectral form was torn from it, leaving her trapped within a suspiciously placed circle of salt. Only one person she knew could have set that up. Swearing under her breath as the now lifeless shell plunged with a thud to the floor, she looked up to see the two Membrane children glaring at her.

“Okay, what’s going on with you two? You can’t just run off like that!” Spectra did her best to look stern despite the fact she couldn’t move two feet without burning. “You nearly gave your father a heart attack and-“

“SHUT UP.” Dib cut her off with a shout.

Now that took her aback. She looked at Dib again and her inner alarm bells went into overdrive. His hair was greasy and limp, self-care clearly having been shoved to the side in favor of all-nighters, further emphasized by the deep bruises underneath his eyes. He shook, eyes slightly unfocused. Gaz didn't look much better, as her pale complexion looked almost anemic in the limited lighting. 

“Dib, Gaz, when was the last time you two slept?”

“NO, you don’t get to pretend like you care anymore. I’m onto you.” Dib pointed an accusatory finger towards her. 

“We’ve figured out your story ‘Spectra’. Just spare us the trouble and come clean already.”

Spectra wasn’t used to Gaz’s intensified aura of irritation and anger; it hadn’t been directed her way in some time. Now she really wanted to know what was going on.  
“Seriously, one of you better explain this. And what on earth was the point of this salt circle?”

Gaz spoke up instead, “I’d always suspected you were up to something, even after you supposedly stopped manipulating Dib’s body. What reason would you have to stick around him? Why’d you want to ‘help’ him? And looking like that of all things…”

“What do you mean ‘looking like this’?” Spectra replied, indignant. “What are you trying to imply here?” Another benefit of not being corporeal she supposed was that this conversation couldn’t cause her a headache.

Dib, fed up, shouted, “Why do you look like our Mom?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You chose that form to trick me!”

“Dib, I don’t even know who your mom is. I’ve always looked like this. Seriously, let me out of here.”

“Her name is Caroline, and you can’t be her! If you really are her, do you even remember how you died?”

“How I died?”

Spectra’s form flickered as she tried to remember. Something had always kept those memories vague; some piece was always missing. Obviously, it happened in the house, but hearing that name it clicked.

“I- I was here to look, I think. I- we wanted to have a house in this area, it would be closer to work.”

The Membrane siblings watched as her hair flattened, no longer floating as if suspended in water. She started to look more… human.

“The relator had mentioned off-hand that the neighborhood was going through a rough patch, but that it was perfectly safe.” Spectra’s gaze traveled to one of the broken windows where a small hole held her attention. 

“I couldn’t feel it at first.”

Horror gripped at Dib and Gaz as Spectra’s appearance morphed further, blood seeping from a previously unseen wound. 

“I didn’t even register the sound. I-.“ Her eyes grew more vacant. “He said he had a surprise for me when I got back. Why can’t I go back?” Spectra’s shoulders shook as her awareness faded, lost in the pain of that night.

Gaz was skeptical. She’d never seen Spectra (who was she really?) so upset before, but could it all be an elaborate trick? Given the look on Dib’s face, the odds of that were slim.

“She’s lost in her past.”

“What? I don’t speak nerd Dib.”

“Sometimes, when ghosts remember certain details about their lives, they get… stuck. That’s why a lot of ghosts act the way they do. They don’t know what year it is, they think it’s whenever they died.”

“Any chance she’s a demon? You did list that as a possibility and I don’t buy this act.”

“No. The salt circle stopped her, not the demon trap. She’s a ghost for sure.”

“That explains literally nothing. If she’s a ghost, fine, why does she still look like that?!”

Dib stewed on that as he watched Spectra continue to look frantically around the room, eyes unseeing. Body shaking as the wound continued to bleed. Then a small whisper stopped him in his tracks.

“Mem? Are you there? You said you’d come after work. Please I don’t want to go.”

As the implications of her statement began to take root in his mind, heavy footsteps heralded the arrival of an extremely winded Professor Membrane. 

“Spectra there better be a good explana-“

Now it was his turn to stand stock still for the second time in recent memory as the ephemeral form of the spirt in front of him continued to weep as his children stared at him. 

“C-Caroline?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! It seems the one braincell has vacated the building, and now everyone is confused. Mem just has the worst sense of timing.


	3. Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for abandoning this. I struggled for a while with my motivation with the series but y'all deserved some closure.

Once again, the room went silent. Even Spectra’s weeping stopped as they all stared in silent disbelief at one another. Dib and Gaz looked at one another in dread, fearing the consequences of their attempted exorcism. 

The professor sucked in a deep breath and tried to shake off the wretched feeling deep in his stomach that the apparition in front of him caused. He had never seen the body, he couldn’t bring himself to at the time, and the hyperrealism of the obvious hologram floating above the unmoving body of the robot look-alike only served to bring back memories of guilt and despair. Membrane turned to his children, trying his best to maintain a level of scientific distance. 

“Dibromide, Gazlene, I’m going to give you one minute to explain yourselves.” He folded his arms as he pointedly avoided the gaze of the hologram. 

Said apparition, however, was staring intently at Membrane, gears starting to turn in her mind. He looked familiar. She tried to connect the fragments of her scattered memory into a coherent picture.

Dib attempted to clear his throat before Gaz cut him off. 

“We’re cleaning up after a dumb decision Dib made.”

“Hey, don’t act like you had nothing to do with this! You were the one who suggested we make her a robot in the first place!”

“Well I didn’t let it into my body you dolt.”

“Okay, fine, whatever Gaz.” Dib turned back to his father, praying that he’d believe him for once. “So… Spectra wasn’t actually an AI. She’s a ghost that I found in this house. I…”

“Let her possess you and only built the robot body after scaring the hell out of me.”

“Oh, come on!”

Their bickering continued, their effort to convince the Professor seemingly forgotten in the back and forth.

Membrane tried to keep his composure, but this had been a rough night for him. “Children this absurdity has gone on long enough. I understand that I shouldn’t have kept the story of your mother from you but this?” He gestured to the figure of Spectra still watching the scene, “This is too much. This hologram of yours is an insult not only to me, but to your mother.”

“But Dad-“

“Dib, turn off that projection. Gaz, pick up all this nonsense. We are going to have a long talk about your actions tonight.”

“Dad please-“

“NO. No, not tonight, not here, not now.”

Membrane ran a hand through his hair, sinking to the floor. 

“I apologize children, but I can’t- this just brings back a lot of bad memories. I just don’t understand how you had managed to make that hologram.”

“Dad that’s what we’ve been trying to tell you she’s-“

“I’m not a hologram.”

Dib’s indignation at being cut off yet again was quickly squashed by the shock of Spectra talking again. Her appearance had changed once again, no longer bloodied and hazy, but clothed in a leather jacket and jeans. Her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a scythe-like bang falling to the side.

“Hey Mem, it’s been a minute.”

“C-Caroline? No that’s not possible you died! I don’t understand, what is this?”

“As Dib was trying to explain, I’m a ghost. Bone-fide spirit. I wish I’d remembered sooner, but apparently dying is a bit of a process.”

Dib looked up at Spectra, no Caroline Membrane. 

“Are you really our mom?”

She blinked, looked down at Dib and then to her husband. God, she had a husband. 

“In a way I am.”

Both siblings now looked heavily confused.

“What?”

“I wasn’t able to have children naturally, looking back on it, I’m fairly certain that your father was planning to surprise me by creating you two.”

“How?”

“I love you, but you’re not exactly the most subtle of people. You think I didn’t realize why you wanted to move into a bigger house?”

The Professor removed his goggles, slowly coming to grips with the reality of the situation. That apparition really was his wife. Which meant…

“Dib, the supernatural, everything you’ve talked about is real?” 

Dib nodded, unused to blanket acceptance of his claims. 

“And the little green boy down the road?”

Gaz spoke up, “An alien. The florpus was real Dad.”

Caroline almost felt bad for him, she was just reeling from regaining her memories, some of which were traumatic. Professor Membrane was having his entire world view upended as well as 

“All this time it was true, I can’t believe it.”

“In your defense, some of my original claims were a bit far-fetched. But yeah.”

“Oh god, what have I been ignoring? What we could have accomplished if I hadn’t dismissed you? How many times did you almost die while I turned a blind eye?”

Dib watched as his dad gesticulated wildly, seemingly in his own world. Concerned he put a hand on

“Dad? Are you okay?”

By this point the professor was rambling almost incoherently, stuck in a cycle of hypotheticals and regrets of his own. Caroline motioned for Dib, gesturing to the salt circle on the floor. 

“Can

“Mem? Hey, look at me.”

Caroline carefully maneuvered around the now open salt circle to settle in front of the professor, her husband. Her fingers ghosted over his face as she smiled gently.

“You of all people should know that there’s no sense in fussing over what could have been. How many times did you tell me about how you were ‘this close’ to a breakthrough when something went wrong?”

He laughed mirthlessly. “Too many to count.”

“Exactly. You always told me that you just needed to learn from the failure, if you almost had it that time, you’d get for sure the next. I’ve watched you these last few months, and I can see how much you’ve changed. You learned from your failures, even if it took me yelling at you while stuck in a robot for you to see it. You’re still the man I married. And you know what?”

Three sets of amber eyes stared at her expectantly.

“I think you’re the first man to have your marriage last after death.”

The normally stoic professor couldn’t help the laugh that left his throat, or the next one, or fit that followed. The ramshackle house felt a little bit warmer as the reunited family enjoyed one moment of pure laughter, putting aside years of turmoil for a few minutes of happiness.

“Haha- Car- he- you were the only person who could make me laugh like that. God, I missed you.”

“I missed you too, my Henry Jekyll. Now let’s get out of this house, I’m done with this place.”

Repossessing the robot, Caroline squinted as her vision came back blurrier than before. Oh right the robot had fallen flat on its face. The professors, watching her take a handful of stumbling steps in no particular direction took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

"Let's go home."

After all this time and heartbreak, the Membrane family finally found itself whole, truly whole. And no matter what challenges would come their way, they could face it as a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! This certainly took longer than anticipated. I have to thank this story for getting me started writing fan fiction in the first place. I have a handful of smaller stories set in this universe if anyone is interested, although I think I'll probably just post snippets on my [Tumblr](https://melodyofthevoid.tumblr.com). Thank you for reading!


End file.
